Painting with a Lens: The Digital Photographer's Guide to Designing Artistic Images In-Camera

Arguing that photography should be about more than gear, shooting modes, and computer programs, this book highlights methods for creating artistic photographs in the moment a picture is taken, rather than later in the editing process. In stark contrast to the “fix everything in post production” approach dominating modern digital photography, this reference demonstrates a more purposeful approach to shooting each frame—carefully considering the subject’s focus and determining the best camera settings, lighting, lens choice, and composition to achieve that objective. Beginning with basic controls that can have a profound effect on your images, such as shutter speed and aperture, it goes on to explore how these settings, along with white balance adjustment, can be used to draw out the artistic value inherent in a scene or subject. In addition, a section on selectively and intentionally adding blur effects explains how to create wild effects that cannot be achieved otherwise. Rather than relying on a computer to “fix” images, Painting with a Lens provides the tools essential to becoming an artist with a camera.